Boehner’s threat of a lawsuit against Obama is foolish on several counts

Thursday

Jun 26, 2014 at 5:05 PMJun 26, 2014 at 6:05 PM

Barack Obama has issued far fewer executive orders than most of his predecessors of the past 80 years, but most right-wingers are† unaware of that fact.

Some of these people seem to think that Obama invented executive orders and is using them to destroy America.

Accordingly, from a purely partisan political standpoint, House Speaker John Boehner’s recent rhetoric about perhaps suing Obama for violating the Constitution is aimed mainly at currying favor among the booboisie.

But as a practical matter, such a lawsuit wouldn’t likely change much, as Dana Milbank EXPLAINS:

To sue the president, Republicans are tying themselves in ideological knots. After howling about excessive lawsuits, they are embracing long-shot litigation. After lamenting activist judges, they are now insisting that judges be more activist and shed their long-standing reluctance to adjudicate disputes between the elected branches.

Even some conservative scholars argue that lawmakers probably donít have a legal standing for such a suit. If Republicans persuade the courts to grant them standing, the case could take years to work its way through the system, at which point Obama will be gone.

Barack Obama has issued far fewer executive orders than most of his predecessors of the past 80 years, but most right-wingers are† unaware of that fact.

Some of these people seem to think that Obama invented executive orders and is using them to destroy America.

Accordingly, from a purely partisan political standpoint, House Speaker John Boehner’s recent rhetoric about perhaps suing Obama for violating the Constitution is aimed mainly at currying favor among the booboisie.

But as a practical matter, such a lawsuit wouldn’t likely change much, as Dana Milbank EXPLAINS:

To sue the president, Republicans are tying themselves in ideological knots. After howling about excessive lawsuits, they are embracing long-shot litigation. After lamenting activist judges, they are now insisting that judges be more activist and shed their long-standing reluctance to adjudicate disputes between the elected branches.

Even some conservative scholars argue that lawmakers probably donít have a legal standing for such a suit. If Republicans persuade the courts to grant them standing, the case could take years to work its way through the system, at which point Obama will be gone.